How does Perez fare compared to Verstappen after the first half of the year?
Sergio Perez's struggles in recent months have been well documented as the Mexican failed to consistently deliver a strong performance in the first half of the current season. F1Technical's lead journalist Balazs Szabo picks out several key stats to compare the Red Bull's driver pairing.
Sergio Perez's career at Red Bull has been hanging in the balance for several months. The Mexican started off this year in a strong fashion, taking four podium finishes in the opening five races.
However, his performance faded as the season progressed, and the Mexican found himself knocked out of the first qualifying segment on multiple times since the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
In terms of race results, Max Verstappen beat his team-mate in all but one race with the Australian Grand Prix featuring the exception where the reigning champion was forced to retire with brake issues.
In qualifying, the situation looks even more complicated, as the Dutchman beat the Mexican in every single qualifying session. In fact, Perez started the last race before the summer break from P2 whereas Verstappen from P11, but that was down to the ten-place grid penalty that the three-time world champion received for exceeding his power unit allocation.
Verstappen is leading the championship, sitting ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris in the standings on 277 points. By contrast, Perez has only scored 131 units so far.
The Hasselt-born driver scored points in every race which he finished with only failing to score at Melbourne due to his reliability-induced retirement. Perez scored points in 11 races, having failed to finish in the top ten in Monaco, Montreal and at Silverstone.
In terms of podium finishes, Verstappen also has the upper hand over Perez. The Dutchman stood on the podium in nine races, having failed to finish on the rostrum in Melbourne, Spielberg, Spa, Budapest and Monaco. By contrast, Perez scored four podium finishes in the first five races, but has failed to challenge for a spot on the rostrum since then.
